Personally, while I'm intellectually curious about Mormonism - the topic du
jour because of Mitt Romney's big religion speech this week - I really can't
get worked up about the topic.

Romney says that his faith informs his values, and I believe him. I also
think he's generally right about the importance of faith in a free society.
But, ultimately, I don't much care why he's a decent guy; I just care that
he's decent.

In fact, I think we get too hung up on motivations, particularly when it
comes to religion.

For example, many Christian conservatives support Israel and look kindly on
Jews because they believe they have a holy duty to do so. The Messiah will
not return, according to the book of Revelation, until the Jews restore the
Kingdom of Israel.

Evangelical Christians believe that when the Messiah returns, things won't
go too well for the Jews - two thirds die, one third convert. Gershom
Gorenberg, author of "The End of Days," once complained to "60 Minutes," "As
a Jew, I can't feel very comfortable with the affections of somebody who
looks forward to that scenario."

Well, boohoo. In the horrible annals of Jewish problems, the fact that a
whole bunch of Christians love Jews for the "wrong" reasons has got to rank
pretty low. Besides, since presumably Jews don't believe in Christian
prophecy, what's the problem? If it's not true, then no harm, no foul. If it
is true, well, who are we to argue with God? My guess is God's response to
the morally decent Jew who gets really worked up about this would be
something akin to "Don't worry, I've got you covered."

Of course, that's not a terribly sophisticated theological argument. But,
historically, theology hasn't mattered that much to Americans. Mormons are a
good example. Americans didn't want Utah to become a state because Mormon
men took too many wives. Mormons dropped polygamy and - bada bing -
Americans dropped their objections to Mormon statehood.

Irving Kristol has cited the fight over Utah's statehood as a quintessential
expression of how America practices theological pluralism while insisting on
moral conformity. It is the American way to care about what people do, not
about what they think. Every religion's theology has some wacky stuff in it,
not only from the atheist's perspective but from the perspective of pretty
much every other religion. It's impossible to know how much this or that
theological tenet guides a person's actions. All we can judge is the
person's actions.

This is why I think many people get too invested in the tenets of Muslim
theology. Defenders of Islam, as well as apologists for terror, often say
Islam means peace and point to this or that quote from the Koran. Opponents
of Islam will often say that Islam is a religion of violence and conquest
and point to a different part of the Koran. As a literary exercise, both
sides have good arguments. But at the end of the day, Koranic exegesis will
only get you so far. Ultimately, a religion is what its adherents do in its
name.

And for a significant minority of Muslims, it is simply the case that Islam
is a religion of violence. How else are we supposed to react to a Sudanese
mob chanting for the execution of a schoolteacher because she permitted her
students to name a teddy bear Mohammed. The people who should be angry about
this fact are the majority of Muslims who claim theirs is a religion of
peace (and, it should be noted, some Muslims were indeed mortified by the
spectacle).

I have liberal Jewish friends who are sometimes flummoxed as to how I could
hang out, ideologically or personally, with "Christian fundamentalists." My
short answer is: Have you ever met any? I may not want some of them planning
my next trip to Vegas, but the ones I've met couldn't be nicer or more
polite.

And the same goes for Mormons. Yes, I think there's some weird stuff in
Mormonism, but they might say "Same to you!" about Jews. Still, all of the
Mormons I've met have been serious, kind and morally upstanding. Republicans
might also note that Mormons are among the most reliably conservative
senators and congressman.

I think the objections to Mormon theology are often sound. But I think there
are sound objections to pretty much every theology. It's a good thing for
Romney that while theology isn't relevant to picking a president, morality
is.